An explanation of the creative process that I read somewhere
I found something recently that described the creative process so resonantly for me that it has become part of the way in which I think about a photography and it translates into many other strands of life and business.
Preparation - Incubation - Implementation...... that's it :-)
OK – so Preparation is the decision to do Something and the initial thought process. Sometimes it is a formal sit-down and work it out; sometimes it is like a nagging thought or an itch. And then you come up with a part-formed idea and (rush off and start or sit quietly pondering or do nothing ever)
The Incubation period is, for me, the best bit. It is when you are playing around with the initial idea – finding yourself thinking about how it will work when you are out for a walk or cooking or trying to sleep. And you are adding ideas and taking things away and wondering what it would be like if……… This Incubation can (and with me definitely does) continue after you start Implementation – doing your craft.
Incubation after you have started? Well, maybe you have worked with a couple of subjects and you are thinking “what if I positioned them all in doorways, or had them all looking away from the camera, or recorded their voices, or turned it into a book” So, not in the original idea but adding to, or subtracting from, it.
But there comes a point when you Have To Stop !! - otherwise you never settle on a style or a theme or a final concept. So, if your incubation says get their words – go and get their words.
One thing to think about is consistency. It took me a while to be comfortable with this and accept that it was a way in which I would often work. Decide whether it works for you or whether it is counter to your own views.
Consistency – in producing a series or work that fits together and is designed to be seen and shown together, be consistent. I'll leave it at that - be consistent.
Current photography? A maternity shoot for a couple whose wedding I shot last year, continuing with the project and a weekend on the South Coast and trying to get simple lighting set ups right for portraits. Good fun :-)
